A translation partner: why you need one, where to find one

OK…that’s not the only reason you need a translation partner, it’s just me learning how to use Canva, but worry-free vacations are a good reason to have a translation partner! I get this question a lot, so let’s talk about it.

Why do you need a translation partner?

Because it’s critical to have a truly trusted colleague to bounce ideas off, share marketing ideas with, and so on.

Because, especially if you work with direct clients, you need someone to edit your work.

Because, especially if you work with direct clients, you need someone to cover for you when you’re on vacation. When I go on vacation, I provide my clients with my translation partner’s contact information ahead of time, and I also put it on my auto-responder (for urgent translations, please contact…) so that there is zero chance that a client is left in the lurch.

Because, especially if you work with direct clients, you need someone who can help out on projects that are too large for you to finish in the allotted time.

Because a translation partner can be a backup when things go wrong: you have a family emergency or a computer crash, for example.

Because you can do joint marketing campaigns, splitting the work and the cost.

Because it makes freelancing more fun.

I’m lucky to have worked with Eve Bodeux for over a decade; we’re very fortunate that we are great friends, work really well together, and have complementary skills. We don’t have any formal joint business entity (when we work together, the client pays one of us and that person pays the other), but we’ve collaborated on several direct client marketing campaigns and a website. This ad hoc partnership works well for us because we both maintain our own businesses in addition to the work we do together, and we’re free to collaborate, or not, as we choose. Eve and I met at an international careers event in Denver and immediately clicked, and then our work just proceeded from there.

However you set up your partnership (formal joint business entity or not; joint web presence or not, etc.), I think the key is to clarify your expectations at the start of the relationship. For example, if you have a joint web presence as Eve and I do, how do you decide who gets the work that results from it? Who translates and who edits? Eve and I tend to do this based on a) our strengths (for example she translates software and children’s books, and I don’t) and b) our availability at that time (who can start sooner). This case-by-case approach works well for us, but if you’re partnering with someone you don’t know very well, you might want to take a more formal approach. Or maybe you’re just looking for someone to edit your work and cover for you while you’re on vacation, and you don’t want any joint presence. Point being: clarify all this up front. The lowest-risk situation is just to find someone who works with you on a per-project basis at a rate that you determine. The highest-risk situation is to form a joint business entity where both of you have access to the client base (because if things go sour, you could lose a lot of work). So you have to carefully strategize about your goals and what works best for you.

I think that mindset is a key factor in a translation partnership. For example, Eve and I are both very meticulous about our work, but we both like to safeguard our time off as well. I would have a hard time working with a 70-hour-a-week person, and I would have a hard time working with a “whatever” person. Definitely something to assess before you work together!

So, if you’re interested in finding a translation partner, where do you start? A few ideas:

In-person events/groups are the best option, because you can get a sense of the person as a person, and assess how you would collaborate. Your local translators’ association, an ATA conference, or local networking groups are good bets.

The downside to in-person meetings is that you don’t get to see the person’s work; and it’s possible to be both a nice person and a lousy translator, which you don’t want. So another option is people who you meet through agency work. For example if you do editing or multi-translator projects for agencies and you’re allowed to see who the other translators are, that’s a great way to find someone who does high-quality work.

Translation listserves and forums (Facebook groups, etc.) are another possibility. If you’re on ATA division listserves for example, you pretty quickly get to know who the really sharp people are, or the people who do the same specializations as you, or the people who also want to find clients in Switzerland, etc. You could contact those people and see whether they’re amenable to working together.

You could also ask trusted colleagues for recommendations; I would probably advise against putting an “I’m looking for a translation partner” posting on a listserve, since you’re looking for a very specific type of person. But you could a few trusted colleagues and give a specific description: German to English translator who does mostly legal and some financial, is a good editor and is in a similar time zone to you, for example.

Thanks for addressing a subject I am passionate about Corinne. I knew I wanted to find multiple translation partners from early on. It was hard to find the right people and the right form of collaboration, but now things have come together and I have a solid relationship with several partners.

In the last two years I’ve found the best source of new translation partners to be working on events/projects for translator associations, because you get to learn not only if someone is nice, but whether you click working together. You get experience down in the trenches together in high-pressure situations and get to know people who have strong organizational and marketing skills.

Thanks for a good post and good luck. I’m sork of passively looking for a translation partner, but of a different kind: a native English speaker, preferably a translator so we could help each other with our jobs. I translate lots of novels and memoirs from English into Russian and sometimes I see phrases that most native speakers are puzzled with. I manage by asking people on forums and communities, but it would be nice to have a permanent partner…

Thank you, Corinne, for this pertinent article. I haven’t found that partner yet. I’d be so happy the day I do. I have to say that the most important thing in a partnership is having the same mindset. When you pinpointed “complementation skills”, you hit the right cord. In the past, I couldn’t work with colleagues who are not that passionate about translation. I’d wonder sometimes “would my colleague obsess over a term until he/she finds it or put a random filler?”. In my country, they don’t believe much in specialization, and there is this mentality of “never say no to a project”. I say “yes” to projects I can do quite well.
Knowing the person very well is a must, too; I once had a bitter experience with a colleague. We worked several times before; once she was on a tight deadline and asked for my help; when it came to payment, she said the client didn’t pay. Six months later, no payment. It was utter waste of time. It happened to me with another colleague; he didn’t respond to any of my calls. I had a series of mishaps that made distrustful. When dealing with large projects, I’d say it’s a must to have some contract signed to stay safe.

You have enlightened me, Corinne, and reinforced some of my convictions. Thank you very much, and I congratulate you for having a great partner. That’s a blessing!

Great post, Corinne! I quite agree that you should definitely find a person that have the kind of skills and qualifications that complement yours. Clarifying your expectations from day one is the best way to go in any professional relationship. Translation shouldn’t be about competition and undercutting, it should be about collaboration and working together and creating complex solutions that will meet the needs of your clients. I wish more people could understand that.
I don’t have a translation partner at the moment since my workload is quite manageable and I normally warn my clients in advance about any vacation plans and I always try to get the best possible deadline to allow myself a few days room in case of any emergencies. The system is not ideal, but it works for me.
As for finding a partner: I would go with social networks and online presence. An ideal partner should have a great online presence and clearly defined marketing strategy. And a well-designed website, of course 🙂 Those are the things that tell me that this person is serious about his/her business.

I met a few people in my NYU certificate classes with whom I would gladly collaborate. By the time you have a couple of classes together, you can get a pretty good idea of both personality and translation skills.

Your trusted partner can help you increase your earnings as well – thanks to the difference in rates in different countries. I know this sounds a bit fishy to someone, but the thing is that you give your partner an opportunity to get more projects at acceptable rates. Why not?

Interesting write-up Corinne. I’m lucky enough to be ‘bound’ for life to my translation partner–my wife! We basically started our freelance translation careers together, and I have to say that even after leaving out all the unique aspects of working with your wife, having a translation partner has been invaluable to me.
I’d highly recommend translators looking for a partner consider a native speaker of their source language; the insights we give to each other regarding difficult source passages, etc. have been a great aid to our translation quality.

Great post Corinne! I agree with your reasons why having a translation partner can be very helpful. You’ve mentioned some great tips for finding a translation partner, which is why I also wanted to give you one more suggestion.

Setlr is an online platform for translators with a helpful translation community so this could be another opportunity to find translation partners and exchange ideas about translation. Check it out at: https://setlr.com/

Hi there, I’ve just found this blog.. and have shared and linked to it from the new ITI Italian Network virtual community of translators. Excellent idea and something we’ll be pursuing. Your blog is a great starting point to introduce the idea to our members.

You definitely need one (or more than one) if you are serious about translation as a career / business.

Sometimes the clients would a large volume of works to be done in a tight time frame, and they usually wish to assign it to one single team (if not one single freelancer) instead of having to split it to several different translators located in different places – consistency and time management would be at stake in that case. Besides large capacities, it also helps with quality as you and your partners could work in tandem – one for translation and the other for proofreading or polishing.

If you get partners working with you, do let you clients know that and you get more chances when they are considering for their important projects.

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